Tag: Q&ampA

Last week, the FBI recommended rebooting home and small office routers that could have been infected with disruptive malware, allegedly by sophisticated state-backed Russian hackers . An estimated half million routers and network-attached storage devices have been infected. But even the FBI acknowledges this step will only "temporarily disrupt" the malware. Here are some questions and answers about the situation: Q: How can I tell if my router is infected? A: Short answer: You probably can't. Routers aren't very consumer-friendly, and most people lack the ability to get deep enough inside the device to tell if it's infected. Q: If my router was infected and I reboot, is it safe? A: No. Turning an infected router off and on again only removes some of the malware — such as elements t...

A task force will study the U.S. Postal Service under an executive order from President Donald Trump, who has spent weeks criticizing online retailer Amazon and accused it of not paying enough in shipping costs. The order doesn't mention Amazon by name, but Trump has tweeted that the company should pay the post office more for shipping its packages. "Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon. THEY LOSE A FORTUNE, and this will be changed," he tweeted earlier this month. The U.S. Postal Service has indeed lost money for years, but package delivery has actually been a bright spot. Here's what you need to know about Trump's order, Amazon and the post office: Q: What does the executive order do? A: It creates a task force to look into the post ...

The growth of bitcoin is fueling speculation and debate about the environmental impact of the collective energy needed to power the virtual currency in the era of climate change. Some questions and answers about the issue: ——— WHAT IS BITCOIN? Bitcoin is the most popular virtual currency in the world, and it has grown in value this year. It was created in 2009 as a new way of paying for things that would not be subject to central banks that are capable of devaluing currency. The sustainability concerns about bitcoin, voiced by economists and environmentalists, stem from the process of "mining" that is central to its existence. The "miners" use computers to make complex calculations that verify transactions in bitcoins. This uses a tremendous amount of energy via computers and server farms

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of South Korea's most successful business group, was sentenced Friday to five years prison for offering bribes and other crimes. Lee, 49, was groomed to lead the conglomerate that was founded by his grandfather and became such a dominating force in South Korea that it's mockingly called "Republic of Samsung" by the public. He took a higher profile role at the world's largest maker of smartphones, television sets and microchips that power consumer electronics after his father suffered a heart attack in 2014 and was poised to cement control. Instead, at the end of last year Lee was implicated in a massive political scandal that culminated in President Park Geun-hye's ouster. The court said he was guilty of offering bribes to the former president...